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Wilkins part 2
Posted By: Phat Bob<Phat_Bob@mindless.com>
Date: 8 December 2002, 1:24 am


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It was funny how Wilkins preferred modesty before glamour. It had been a horribly bloody war. He never reported killing the squad of Covanent, he only told his superiors that after the other marines were killed he retreated. He never told anyone about how he killed the Elite who was preparing to slaughter the helpless Master Chief either. It was probably because Wilkins didn't want to be promoted. It seemed that the Covanent always went after those who were in command. Being the first target was not something he had always wanted to be. Yet in the back of his mind he felt a terrible guilt. Knowing that troopers who weren't ready for it, were being promoted. They were easy pray in battle, and took other good men down with them. Wilkins knew he could lead, but he was a cowardice. Yes he could, and often did rise to the occasion, but he did not enjoy fighting. Seeing close friends blown to pieces by stray grenades, or aliens having been shot so much they are unrecognizable. But he knew in the back of his mind he had to fight, and he had to win.

The Covanent were regrouping and were pulling their troops off the PoA. This was a tell tale sign that they were prepared to destroy the ship. Wilkins looked back through the glass rear of his lifeboat, seeing dozens of the small craft launch.
"2 minuets to landing," the pilot called. They were ordered to land on the "ring" structure that they had found after coming out of the slipstream. Suddenly a huge beam of blinding light soared past the rear of the ship.
"OH MY GOD!" screamed a marine, "What the hell was that?"
"Looks like they have started firing on the ship, won't be long till they take it out now," another responded. The Covanent blast barley missed hitting the lifeboat, which was now falling towards the ring at a steeper angle.
"We just lost primary thrusts! I got take her down early!" the pilot declared. The small crafts speed increased exponentially, rocking the passengers back in their seats. Wilkins looked back to see the Autumn turn towards the ring and accelerate, while taking severe blows from Covanent frigates. It was the last thing he saw before the pressure on his body increased again, and he blacked out.

He woke to a great jolt, as if the ship had hit something. When he looked he saw the marines file out and run away looking for cover. One stopped to shake him and see if he had survived. But before Wilkins could shake his weak head the marine behind him pushed him out. A few moments latter he passed out again. He drifted in and out of conciseness for a good half hour before he found himself fully awoken by gunfire and explosions. Peeking through a small window beside him he saw a large structure roughly 50 metres away. With closer inspection he found about 6 marines running around. He began to unstrap himself when he suddenly heard a low whining. It gradually got louder and louder until a large u shaped shadow fell over him. He knew at once it was a Covanent dropship, obviously looking for survivors. When the side doors opened up he saw 5 Grunts and 2 Jackals. Just a recon group, Wilkins thought to himself. The flying purple horseshoe was no more than 10 metres away. Before the enemy could fully unload from the dropship Wilkins crawled from the destroyed ship and lobbed a near by grenade at them. Immediately gunfire erupted from the structure.
"So those are survivors from the crash," Wilkins said to himself. The 2 Jackals positioned themselves so that they would take most of the fire, deflecting it away with their energy shields. 3 of the Grunts were caught by the first volley of bullets from the marines, and flew back screaming as the methane leaked from their backs. The rest focused on returning fire on the structure. Aiming for the nearest Jackal on the right, Wilkins raised his Assault Rifle and squeezed the trigger. 3 rounds bust from the muzzle before tearing a 4 inch wide hole through its head. The other aliens looked around, as if in a daze. Seeing his opportunity Wilkins dashed for the structure.
"Marines! Cover fire! Someone is still alive down there!" the Sarge commanded. It seemed like it was straight out of a movie, or a book. Gunfire rained over him as he made his way closer to safe heaven. Suddenly a wave of extremely hot air burned past his neck as super heated plasma whipped past him. Seeing a rock only a few feet away he dove, before he realized it was occupied.

He saw the resting Elite out of the corner of his eye. It was a redone, just like the one that ripped his old Sarge in half. The Elite jumped up, startled as Wilkins screamed in terror. 2 Marines saw him and fired at the Elite. The bullets glanced of his energy shield as he leaped at Wilkins, unfazed. In a move of pure poetry Wilkins ducked and looked behind him. The red monster slammed into another rock a stumbled around. 3 marines ran down the ramp to the structure and let loose on the Elite. It's shields only held up for a few seconds, but by the time it realized what was happening, it was too late. Nearly 45 rounds entered its chest and it fell over, blood oozing out from underneath it. The 4 marines ran back up the ramp firing at the last remnants of the recon squad. By the time they got up Wilkins had killed 2 more Grunts.
"Wilkins, cover the rear flank!" his Sarge commanded. He ran over and heard another low whining.
"Another dropship! They're trying to flank us!" Wilkins called out. Wilkins and the Sarge ran down the rear ramp followed by another marine. When the dropship opened up 2 Grunts fell out, with large holes in them. One's head fell off while the others chest was opened a good 5 inches in diameter. They looked over and saw the Master Chief. Hearing a Grunt yell 'GRENADE!' they turned to target it. But before they could even fire a round its head exploded. The Master Chief had explosive rounds in his Pistol. The plasma grenade dropped and the other covanent scurried off. The marines opened fire on the confused aliens. But 1 sneaky Elite ran behind a rock for cover. When it saw the marines were preoccupied it ran up behind the trooper in the rear. Hearing something running up behind him he turned and froze. The Elite activated a plasma grenade at slammed it onto his forehead.

The Marine screamed and ran in circles. There was no time to save him. The grenade exploded sending parts of his body flying through the air. 4 marines and the Master Chief descended on the monster like a bat outta hell. They all unloaded a clip into it and knocked it back. When its shields dropped the Master Chief unloaded 6 rounds. 2 hit it in the head, blowing it apart. 4 more landed in its chest before the body could hit the ground. The body lied in pieces, just like the marine from before. They mopped up the rest of the covanent without issue.
"Master Chief sir!, we could use your help sir. We called for evac, but until you came along, we knew we were goners." The Sarge announced, saluting. The Master Chief nodded. Over head someone whispered, 'wow, a mark 5, taller than I thought.' The Master Chief heard him and glanced upwards towards the structure. Obviously embarrassed he slowly walked away. Wilkins thought he could see the Master Chief smile behind his bright orange visor.





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